David Fitzsimons

{{Short description|Australian middle- and long-distance runner (1950–2008)}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| honorific_prefix =

| name = David Fitzsimons

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| full_name = David Thomas Fitzsimons

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| nationality = Australian

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| birth_date = 23 April 1950

| birth_place = Victor Harbor, South Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|09|07|1950|04|23|df=y}}

| death_place = North Adelaide, South Australia

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| alma_mater = University of Adelaide

| occupation = Civil engineer

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| employer = Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure

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| spouse = {{marriage|Marjorie Dee|1977}}

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| sport = athletics

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| event = running

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| universityteam = Adelaide University Athletics Club

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| retired = 1980

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| worlds = 1977 Dusseldorf World Cup 5000 m – Bronze

| regionals = 1977 Pacific Conference Games 5000 m – gold

| nationals =

| olympics = {{plainlist|

1976 Montreal 10,000 m 14th
1980 Moscow 5000 m 10th in first semifinal

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| commonwealth = Competed at 1974 Christchurch and 1978 Edmonton

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David Fitzsimons (23 April 1950 – 7 September 2008){{cite web |url=http://runningsa.com.au/Portals/54/Documents/EventInfo/The-Fitzy-Story.pdf |title=The David Fitzsimons Story |publisher=Athletics South Australia |accessdate=26 December 2017}} was a former Australian Olympic athlete who competed in middle distance events and civil engineer.

A member of the Adelaide University Athletics Club, he represented Australia at two Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games during his career. Inducted into the South Australian Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Fitzsimons won eight Australian Championships in Athletics over 5000 metres and 10000 metres including the 5k/10k double on three occasions.[http://www.athletics.com.au/history/athletes/athlete325.htm Athletics Australia profile - Dave Fitzsimons]

Engineering

Fitzsimons worked for 30 years at the Transport Department of the South Australian Government. He was the supervising engineer of a road bridge which replaced a level crossing on Park Terrace on what became the city ring route of Adelaide. The Park Terrace bridge over the Gawler railway line and interstate freight line is 120 metres long and was constructed in 1990. It was named after Fitzsimons in 2017.{{cite news |title=Olympic Hero's name to span across the ages |first=Miles |last=Kemp |newspaper=The Advertiser |date=26 December 2017}}

Athletics career record

During his athletics career, Fitzsimons represented Australia at two Olympic Games, two Commonwealth Games and two World Cups.

Fitzsimons's greatest international achievement was placing third over 5000 metres at the inaugural IAAF World Cup in 1977.

Statistics

Personal Bests[http://www.athletics.com.au/community/statsdata/rankings/alltime Athletics Australia - all time performances] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203145151/http://www.athletics.com.au/community/statsdata/rankings/alltime |date=3 February 2009 }}

Event ! Performance ! Place ! Date
class="wikitable"
1500m	3-39.92	Christchurch, New Zealand	31 January 1974
2000m	5-06.6	Edmonton, Canada	2 August 1978
3000m	7-48.74	Gothenburg, Sweden	16 July 1978
2 miles	8-28.0	Melbourne, Australia	11 January 1979
5000m	13–17.42	Düsseldorf, Germany	4 September 1977
10000m	28–04.64	London, Great Britain	9 September 1977